A proposal to ask the Scottish Government to designate the council area as a short-term let (STL) control area was approved by councillors back in February.

Under the plan, residential property owners wholly letting a property as an STL, which was not their principle home, needed to apply for planning permission for a ‘change of use’, or just a ‘certificate of lawfulness’ if used as an STL for more than ten years.

The local authority had rolled out the policy in response to concerns about issues of safety, anti-social behaviour and noise, which it said have a detrimental effect on communities as the number of STLs has greatly increased across the city in recent years.

In May, a group of four accommodation providers lodged a judicial review against the policy after a crowdfunding campaign raised more than £300,000.

The case centred around petitioners’ opposition to a presumption against allowing entire flats within the city’s tenements to be used as holiday lets.

• Also read: City of Edinburgh Council’s short-term lettings decision: full case report

The policy states that “secondary letting in tenement or shared main door accommodation is considered as unsuitable” and the burden would be on the applicant to demonstrate why they should be exempt from the rule.

The challenge was successful with Lord Braid finding that the council’s policy is unlawful at common law, in respect of the rebuttable presumption, the lack of provision for temporary licences and the requirement to supply floor coverings. The court also found that the policy breaches The Provision of Services Regulations 2009 regulations.

After reviewing the decision, the City of Edinburgh Council has decided not to appeal the judgement and has updated its STL Licensing Policy to reflect the terms of the court’s decision.

Convener of the council’s Regulatory Committee, Neil Ross, said: “The council was successful in defending large parts of the policy and the court did not criticise any aspect of the council’s consultation nor the evidence base which it used to reach its decision. Having reviewed the court’s decision in detail, the council has decided not to appeal the ruling.

“We have changed our policy to reflect the decisions reached by the court, which took effect from 13 July, and the date for applying for a licence is 1 October. Existing hosts and operators have until that date to submit an application for a licence.”